Build your go-to toolbox. Brainstorming technique

Hello Friends, In today’s letter

Exercise: Google’s technique to generate quality ideas.
Links: Framework to writing critique, dive into the experimental culture, and big trend predictions from Ark Invest.
P.S.: What I’m reading.

Technique to try: Crazy 8s

Similar to craftsmen, product managers need to master some essential tools they can rely on in any situation.

My toolbox isn’t complete, but I always have an ideation tool to hand. Having this go-to tool allows me to feel confident that I can get quality results and have productive brainstorming sessions even when there is not much time to prepare.

🏋️‍♂️ Exercise

This technique is part of the Design Sprint methodology.

In a nutshell

Each person takes his or her strongest ideas and rapidly sketches eight variations in eight minutes. Crazy 8s forces you to push past your first reasonable solutions and make them better, or at least consider alternatives.
Sprint

I use Crazy 8s whenever I need to come up with a design or text or facilitate a brainstorming session.

It works best for:

• Layout sketches

• Interactions

• Logos

• Data visualization

• Problem statements

• Microcopy

• Headlines

• Names

I love it because:

1. You can use this technique with a group or on your own.

2. It helps unblock the brain and explore non-obvious alternatives.

3. Seeing the different ideas next to each other, and being able to compare, can help you generate the best solution.

Step 1. Pick a problem

I encourage you to try it on your own. You can pick anything you are working on at the moment: problem definition, vision statement, presentation headline, name of a button, interface layout.

Example: Let’s brainstorm a vision statement. We are working on an investment service for kids. We want to help parents teach kids about money and also address a problem a lot of parents reported: dealing with the stress kids feel when their holdings go down.

Step 2. Frame the problem and provide a context

This is the most important step if you’re facilitating brainstorming. If I’m doing it on my own, I skip this step.

In our example, we’re not looking for a solution. I want to use Crazy 8s to phrase the vision for the service. How might we explain the benefits of our service to parents?

Step 3. Prepare a timer & paper or online canvas

Image 1: a book Sprint, image 2: Miro

1. Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half three times. So you have 8 rectangles.

2. Set a timer for 60 seconds.

3. Or set an online board like Miro (better suited for texts than drawings).

Remote: When we did remote Crazy 8s with a team everyone sketched on paper and then uploaded the images to Miro.

Step 4. Start brainstorming 1 minute per idea

Check out this two minutes video to see Crazy 8 in action.

Start sketching. You have one minute per idea.

💡 The best part of this technique is when you are on your third or fourth idea and think there are no more alternatives, but something interesting still comes up.

The authors of the technique suggest you focus on good ideas and “tweak and expand” on them (avoiding the brain dump that can happen in standard brainstorming).

Step 4. Pick an idea

If you're brainstorming something small, one iteration is usually enough. Sometimes in the middle, you already have a suitable solution.

In the vision statement for investment service. I like the last idea “Help parents to teach kids healthy investment habits“ and I can either iterate further or start testing.

Step 5. Present (for teams)

Ask everyone to present ideas they think are worth sharing.

Step 6. Vote (for teams)

Each member gets 5 votes and can pick ideas or part of a sketch to be incorporated into the final solution.

💡 If you are working with a team the goal might not be to get to a final solution but to generate ideas that a designer can take forward and continue working with.

Have fun practicing! And hit reply if ou have any questions.

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🧠 Worth Learning

Articles, podcasts, and products I found useful, and maybe you will, too.

📖 Learn to give writing feedback. David Perell’s CRIBS framework (confusing, repeated, interesting, boring, surprising.) can help you give and receive valuable feedback on requirements, one-pagers, documentation, and presentations.

🎧 Listen to Gibson Biddle talk about major Netflix experiments and why some seemingly logical ideas failed. His story gives a feeling of what it’s like to work in a really experimental culture.

🔍 Analyze innovation opportunities. Ark Invest is an investment founded by betting on disruptive innovation. Each year they publish a report with trends they see in different markets.

🔖 Get inspired by a collection of product requirement templates created by Lenny Rachitsky. Having a go-to template is one more thing that helps PMs focus on problems and create a consistent and efficient way to collaborate.

👩‍💻 P.S. What I'm reading

Do you ever consider creating a start-up? This book tears down all the aspects of creating, running, and selling a business., covering all the ups and downs, and outlining the less-obvious responsibilities. After reading the book you’d know if you want to build a company and if now is a good time. After reading Zero to Sold I know I don’t want to build my own start-up.

In two weeks we’ll be preparing questions to conduct user interviews on the fly.

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